Footwear



- Sept; 22, 1942.

E. B. WARD 2,296,547

- FOO'TWEAR Filed June 12, 1941 Patented Sept. 22, 1942 UNETED STATEFi,iiii'lihllli' OFFICE FOOTWEAR Eugene B. Ward, West Springfield, Mass.Application June 12, 1941, Serial No. 397,770

3- Claims.

This invention relates-to improvements in footwear and is directed moreparticularly to improvements in shoe construction having a movable partor parts for supporting a certain part orparts of the foot.

It 'is one of the principal objects of the invention to provide asupporting device for a part or parts of the foot which deviceismovable-by movements of the foot and shoe. The device is especiallyadapted to supportthat part of the foot commonly known as the metatarsalarch.

According to special features of the invention, there is provided amember adapted to support the foot both when the sole and heel are fiaton the floor or other surface and when one is raised relative to theother so as to bend or flex the bottom part of the shoe. As will appear,the device is adjustable to various positions to accommodate differentconditions and the construc tion may be built into the shoe or sold as aseparate device for insertion thereinto.

That is to say, my device provides a simple but ingenious mechanicalaction whereby an arch-supporting member follows up the foot at everystep in exact ratio to the height of the lift of the heel from thefloor, giving a gentle but effective support to the foot both while theheel is going up and coming down. This action provides a restfultreadbase cannot be provided with such rigid arch supports as are now incommon use.

With the foregoing and various other novel features and advantages andother objects of my invention as will become more apparent as thedescription proceeds, the invention consists in certain novel featuresof construction and in the combination and arrangement of parts as willbe hereinafter more particularly pointed out in the claims hereuntoannexed and more fully described and referred to in connection with theaccompanying drawing wherein:

Fig. 1 is a plan view of the construction of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a partial side elevational view of the same;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view on the line 3-3 of Fig. 1; and I Fig. 4 is amore or less diagrammatic view to explain certain features ofconstruction.

It will be understood that the means of the invention may beincorporated in a shoe construction by being associated with the solethereof or may be inserted in a shoe as a separate and removable device.That is to say, the archfor the foot and it supporting means is soconstructed that it may as well be built into the shoe as be associatedtherewith as more or less of an applianceapart and removable from theshoe.

What I refer to as a support orbodymember is indicated by 2 and it is tobe understood that this may be either built into a shoe during itsmanufacture or placed therein as amore or less of an appliance. In anyevent, the said member will usually consist of a relatively flat andthin strip or piece of leather or similar material having theflexibility and composition which is desirable in a shoe-surfacing orlining material.

As has been suggested and as will be described, while the constructionof the invention preferably includes a support or body such as themember 2, the form of such member may obviously vary to not onlyaccommodate shoes or footwear asto size and shape but to permit itsincorporation or association with the same in various ways.

The construction of the invention may, in other words, be relativelypermanently associated with a shoe during its manufacture as between theinner and outer soles thereof orit may take the form of a separate andremovable device adapted to be inserted into a shoeafter itsmanufacture. preferably adjacent the inner side of the outer sole, inwhich case an inner covering of some soft and flexible material isusually placed thereover.

There is a plate member 4 movable relative to the support member and soformed as to be capable of flexing relative to the metatarsal arch ofthe foot as the foot and shoe are flexed or bent relative to oneanother. That is to say, when the construction of the invention is inproper position with respect to the shoe and foot and the latter areflexed or bent, as in walking, the plate member is caused to more orless follow the contour of the foots lower surface and support theparticular portion thereof above referred to at all times.

It has been found desirable that the plate member mentioned be soassociated with its support that th parts are capable of a hinge-likeaction and the support is somewhat pliable, as stated, for obviousreasons.

The preferred manner of providing this hinged or pivoted arrangement isto form a socket or aperture 2!! in the support 2 in which there isreceived a receptacle-like member 22. It is desired that the socket 20be circular in shape and that the member 22 include a cup-like part of acorresponding shape, although obviously of slightly less diameter, andthat the construction of the member 22 be such that its cup-like parthas a peripheral flange for disposition against one surface of theflexible member 2.

It is to be understood that the hinged 'or pivoted plate member 4 may bedisposed adjacent either the lower or upper surface of the sole part 2.To this end, I provide that the cup-like part of the receptacle-formingor receiving member may extend upwardly into the hole in the support ordownwardly thereinto.

The plate 4 is provided with what I call a retaining member 24 which ispreferably disc-like in form and of corresponding shape, but, of course,of slightly less diameter than the, cup of member 22 and of the hole 20.This is pivoted to the part 4 as by means of a connecting and rotatablepin 26 substantially as shown, and said disc is removably received inthe cup of the receiving member and freely rotatable therein.

The construction is such that the pivot point of the disc iseccentrically arranged as shown so that the plate may be swung intovarious sidewise and forward and backward positions relative to thesupport. 7

It will .be appreciated that the retaining member may be rotated ineither direction in its receiving cup, as indicated by the arrows inFig. 4. Also, there may be prong-dike projections extending from spacedpoints on' the plate member in the direction of the flexible support.

These are for impinging or extending into the support material once thesupporting plate has been swung in the manner described to the positionfound most desirable for flexing against the foot. It will be clear thatsuch securing or fixing means may vary in form to a considerable degree.

Manifestly the specific details of construction may be considerablyvaried from those herein shown and described without involving anydeparture from the principle of the invention or sacrificing any of theadvantages inherent therein. While I have described my invention in thisspecification in great detail and particularly with respect to thepresent preferred form thereof, it is not desired to be limited theretosince many changes and modifications may be made therein withoutdeparting from the spirit and scope of the invention.

The invention may be embodied in other specific forms without departingfrom the essential characteristics thereof. Hence, the present embodiments are therefore to be considered in all respects merely as beingillustrative and not as being restrictive, the scope of the inventionbeing indicated by the appended claims rather than by the. foregoingdescription, and all modifications and variations as fall within themeaning and purview and range of equivalency of the appended claims aretherefore intended to be embraced therein..

What it is desired to claim and secure by Letters Patent of the UnitedStates is:

1. As a new article of manufacture, a device for supporting themetatarsal arch region of the foot comprising in combination, a flexiblesupport member, a receptacle member associated with said flexible memberhaving an open side at one side of the member, a retaining memberrotatable in said receptacle, a plate member at said one side of theflexible member, and pivotal connecting means associated with said platemember and retaining member. 7

2. As a new article of manufacture, a device for supporting themetatarsal arch region of the foot comprising in combination, a flexiblesupport member, a receptacle member associated with said flexible memberhaving an open side at one side of the member, a retaining memberrotatable in said receptacle, a plate member at said one side of theflexible member,- and pivotal connections between one end of said platemember and retaining member having an axis disposed substantiallyparallel toand at a side of the axis of rotation of saidretaining memberand the opposite end of the plate member adapted to bear on said supportmember.

3. As a new article of manufacture, a device for supporting themetatarsal arch region of the foot comprising in combination, a flexiblesupport'member, a receptacle member associated with said flexible memberhaving an open side at one side of the member, a retaining memberrotatable in said receptacle, a flexible plate member having one enddisposed on said retaining member with a part extending away therefromfor resting on said support member, and pivotal connections between saidone end of the plate member and said retaining member disposed inparallelism with the axis of the latter and at a side thereof.

EUGENE B. WARD.

